Gas and liquid storage apparatus



Dec. 21, 1943. 1. H.w|GG|Ns 2,337,286

GAS AND LIQUID STORAGE APPARATUS Filed Nov. l, 1940 2 Sh'eecs-Sheet l [NVE/v TOR; JOHN H. W/GGINS Treff/vw Dec. 21, 1943.

FIG .7.

J. H. WIGGINS 2,337,286

GAS AND LIQUID STORAGE APPARATUS 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG; 6.

Filed NOV. l

FIG .8.

INvENToH w/GGINS BY lwQ/w/ A TTOHNEY Paieiiied Dec. 21, 1943 GASA AND LIQUID STORAGE APPARATUS I .101m H, Wiggins, chicago, 111.'

6 Claims.

Application November 1,1940, serial No. 363,833

Thisinvention relates to apparatusy of the kind that are used for storingrgases and/orvolatile liquids, and particularly, gases and/or liquid storage apparatus of the type in which the gas receiving space or chamber of the apparatus comprises a stationary portion, a vertically-movable portion, and a flexible, non-metallic sealing element that produces a gas-tight joint or Connection between said parts and provides for the movement of vsaid vertically-movable portion, as described in my prior U. S. Patents Nos. 2,050,405, 2,050,685 and 2,050,686,` dated August 11, 1936, and No. 2,102,299, dated December 14, 1937. I have herein illustrated my invention embodied in an apparatus of the general type mentioned, whose vertically-movable,portion constitutes the upper part of the gas receiving space or chamber of the apparatus andis arranged in Atelescopic relation with a stationary tank that constitutes 'the lower part of said space or chamber, but I wish it to be understood that certain features of my present invention are applicableto any type or kind of gas and/or liquid storage apparatus that employs a exible sealing element which is adapted to double, fold, or assume a loop form in the normal functioning of the apparatus.

One object of mypresent invention is to provide an apparatus or structure of the general kind previously mentioned, whose co-acting parts are constructed or combined in a novel way that protects-the flexible sealing element from injury and eliminates the possibility of said sealing element being chafed or cut when the apparatusA is functioning. l

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the general type mentioned, whose coacting Y Figure 3 is a detail view, in vertical section, of f one of the guide rollers on the riser, employed to protect the sealing element against injury and to hold the riser in approximately concentric relation with the side wall of the tank.

Figures 4 and 5 are detail views, illustrating ,k

the operation of detachahly connecting the roof of the riser to the side wall portion of the riser. Figure 6 is a detail View, illustrating the means used to detachably connect the sealing element to the side wall of the tank.

Figure 7 is a detail View, illustrating the operation of installing the 'sealing element, showing the side wall portion of the riser sustained by brackets on the tank side wall, and the roof of the riser separated fromY the side wall portion of the riser.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the parts shown in Figure 6; and

Figures 9, 10 and 11 are detail views, illustrating the operation of attaching-the sealing element to the side wall portion of the riser.

In the accompanying drawings A `designates a stationary tank that constitutes the lower portion of theispace or chamber which receives or confines the medium stored'in the apparatus, B

designates as an entirety the vertically-movable upper portion of said space or chamber, commonly referred to as a riser, which is `arranged in telescopic relation with said tank, and C designates a seal or sealing element constructed of gas-tight fabric or other suitable exible or pliable material attached to the side wall of the tank A and to the side wall portion of the riser B, so as to maintain a gas-tight joint between said parts and stilly provide for the vertical movement of the riser. The riser comprises a roof I, a

' cylindrical side wall member 2, arranged in concentric, or approximately concentric, relation with .the tank side wall, and preferably detachably connected in a novel manner to the peripheral edge of the roof l, and a skirt 3 of cylindrical form attached to and depending from the bottom edge of the cylindrical side wall member 2 of the riser. The seal C, which is of annular form, has its inner edge attached to the top edge of the side wall of the tank A, and has its outer edge attached to the riser B, preferably at the point where the top edge of the skirt 3 of the riser is fastened to the side wall member 2 of the riser. When the riser is in its lowermost position, the seal` C hangs downwardly from the top edge of the tank side wall, as shown in Figure 2, and when the riser moves upwardly, said seal folds, doubles, orv assumes a loop form so as to provide for the upward movement of the riser. At such times the skirt 3, which forms the lower half of the side wall portion of the riser, serves as a vbackingfor the seal C and prevents said seal from being subjected to injurious strains, as described in my U. S. patents previously referred to.

In order to prevent the sealing element C from being cut or chafed during the upward and downward movement of the riser B, I have proedge of said skirt,

vided .said riser with guide rollers 4, arranged at the lower end of the riser in such a position as to prevent the bottom edge of the skirt 3 of the riser from contacting with the sealing elcment C, said guide rollers 4 being arranged in spaced relation around the circumference of the riser, and each guide roller being preferably mounted on a horizontal axle 5 carried by a vpair of vertically-disposed supporting bars 6 attached to the exterior of the skirt 3, as shown in Figure 1 and depending below the bottom In addition to preventing the bottom edge of the skirt from cutting the seal C, the guide rollers 4, by co-operating with the side wall of the tank A, effectively resist wind pressures that tend to movethe riser out of concentric relationship with the tank side wall. The inner edge of the sealing element C is fastened to the upper end of the side wall of the tank A by a removable clamping bar I arranged on the exterior of said wall, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, and detachably connected to sarneby bolts 8, said bolts projecting laterally from the tank side wall far enough to prevent the side wall portion of the riser B from rubbing on or chang the sealing element C.

One important feature of my present invention consists in combining the parts of the riser with the tank side wall in such a way that it is commercially feasible to construct the seal C in the formof a continuous ring or endless band, inasmuch as said co-operating parts are so designed and combined that the seal C can be replaced without emptying the tank A, when liquid is stored in said tank. I-Ieretofore` it has been the usual practice to rivet the roof of the riser to the side. wall portion of the riser, but in my improved construction the roof I is detachably connected to the side wall member 2 of the riser by bolts S and a gasket I0, as shown inf Figures 4 and 5. In the operation of installing the seal C. or when replacement of said seal@ becomes necessary, the workmen located on the exterior of theapparatus rst block up the roof I` as indicated in Figure 7, and then lower the.:

side wall member 2 and skirt 37of the riser-onto laterally-projecting brackets II on the side wall l' of the tank A, thus producing an opening or space between the roof and side wall portion of the riser B through which the sealing element C can be inserted and arranged in operative position between the riser and the side wall of the tank. said vsealing element C preferably having a diameter only slightly greater than the diameter of the roof, so that it can be telescoped over the roof and drawn downwardly around the edge of the roof. After the sealing able deformable gasket III has been interposed between the roof and the angle 2b at the top edge of said side wall member 2; and (3) then raising the skirt 3 of the riser and suspending it from the side wall member 2 in spaced relationship with same, by a few vertically-disposed bolts I2 positioned in co-operating laterallyprojecting iianges 2i and 3a on the side wall member 2 and skirt 3 of the riser. The bottom edge of the sealing element C can then be inserted between the flanges 2a and 3 and ternporarily held by clips I3, as shown in Figure 10.

The hanger bolts I2, used to suspend the skirt from the side wall member 2 of the riser, are then tightened so as to cause the sealing element C to be clamped at intervals by said bolts,

. and subsequently, the clips I3 are pulled out v desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

' B and connecting the seal C .with the riser and ,Y

l-thefbottom point vofsame and also detachably,

v"viafst en ed to the side wall of the tank.

A2; jAn apparatusdescribed inclaim 1, in which 1. A fluid storage apparatus, comprising la. tank i ofthe riser. is disconnected from same, and a 'flexible sealing 'elenint detachably fastened to the 'side wall portion .of the riser at a point above .Y the', sider wallportion ofthe riser is provided at its lgowerendwith'guide rollers disposed so as to maintain the .riserin approximately 'concentric relation withthe'tank and also prevent the seal- 'ingr-'element from being cut or damaged byl the bottom' edge of the side wall portion of the riser. x 43. An apparatus described in claim l, in which the sealingfelement is formed by a' continuous ring or endlessban'd of non-metallic, iiexible material.

element has been positioned between the tank l side wall and the side wall portion of the riser B. as just explained, the inner edge or upper edge of said sealing element is detachably fastened to the tank side wall by the clamping bar I Aand bolts 8. Thereafter, the outer edge or bottom end of the sealing element C is connectedv to the riser by the procedure illustrated in Figures 9 and l0', which procedure involves: (l) reprises laterally-projecting devices on said side` 'wall that serve as stops which prevent the side Wall-portion o'f the riser from rubbing or chalng the sealing element.

6, in-apparatus described in claim 1, in which the side wall portion of the riser is formed by two separable, superimposed, annplarmembers, between whichone end or edge of the sealing element is clamped.

JOHN H. WIGGINS. 

